The Pipes are Calling
by Max Peck
Summary: In the shadow of his senior year, Danny's summer is disrupted by a seemingly sickly Vlad who forces Danny to spend a month at his Mansion. Danny's disdain gives way to curiosity, guilt, and horrifying revelations about Vlad, the ghost zone, and the nature of Halfas. Suddenly, there's more at stake than one lost summer vacation. Paired: DannyxSam; Disregards Phantom Planet!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there, readers. Running through various other Fics here, I've pieced together my own idea of how to continue the series. You'll have to pardon any particularly insulting shittiness; I'll admit to you all this is the first fic I've written myself, but I consider myself a veteran FanFic reader at the least, and hope to make this one a fic worth reading.**

**A note about the setting: This fic _DISREGARDS_ the series finale, "Phantom Planet," because I found the whole thing just stupid. Everything up to and including D-stabilized is accepted as fanon here. That means that, as the Fic starts, Vlad is still mayor, Danny's identity is still secret, and Danny/Sam aren't an item (yet).**

**I tried to be as creative as possible, but I sometimes tend to take inspiration unconsciously. If it seems I stole an idea from you it's possible I did. You now have bragging rights to tell everyone you are a total FanFiction Hipster.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters in this Fic, Nickelodeon does. For the record, if ya ever get around to, ya know, finally making a Season 4, this fic is here for the taking, since I don't like own it. Go ahead, knock yourself out.**

* * *

Come. Sit. Do you see the radiant rays of sun slight that gently part the clouds in the infinite stretching horizon? It is calming, I think, to view the dawn from the eyes of a cloud, away from the influences of both the living and the dead.

It is only you. You. And me.

I want to tell you. I've seen many a hero come and go, though never with my own eyes. I've experienced and traveled much of our world and of theirs. I know personally many of the legends and myths that litter ancient human history and I am privy to the obscure history of the supernatural realm as well. I have observed so much of history, I sometimes consider myself the definition of it. I've seen everything, everyone, and yet there's none like the one I speak to you of. He is unique: Neither wholly man, but not quite incorporeal. Among the greatest men and women, soldiers and diplomats, heroes and villains that make up the stories told and retold since the dawn of time, he stands alone.

I cannot just tell you his story. It is not an event that can be analyzed. It is an experience that must be had. I have observed him, and now I would like you to do the same.

Listen to me. Open your eyes, your imagination, and your heart to the boy who dwarfed gods, the hero that died but refused to surrender, the affection of many hearts, human and ghostly, that calls himself "Danny Phantom."

* * *

On a bright afternoon in central Minnesota, a quaint, moderately sized city rested. To many people, Amity Park was just a dot on a map, completely forgettable and disgustingly ordinary. The city's name continues to be remembered not for its own sake, but for the people that lived there.

In the recesses of Midtown, the serene and silent campus of Casper High gave it the air of a graveyard. High, pale yellow walls of stone and mortar marked the prison of many of the city's adolescent inhabitants.

In an instant, the stillness was pierced by an artificial wail of metal, punctuated by the hollers and screams of thousands of children that rushed from the oppressive edifice, murdering the calmness that had dwelt there before.

Among the sea of nameless and impertinent juveniles, three figures traveled comfortably as a single entity. These three were mirthful, carefree and obsessed with the moment. They laughed with careless abandon, often demonstrating their bond with affectionate teasing and inside jokes.

They were happy.

Does seeing happy people make you happy? I am often told happiness is infectious, that happiness multiplies with each person it reaches. I feel alone sometimes, knowing that happiness is as fickle an emotion as it is. When I see happy people, I don't see happiness spreading to others, I see the inevitable end of that intoxicating humor that brings with it chaos and instability. I find happiness depressing. But I digress.

The three teenagers blissfully continued their stride across the lively green lawn, now brimming with energy that dispersed itself unevenly in every possible direction.

"Finally, school's out, I have zero obligations, and for the next 3 months, I am completely free to freeze my brain on milkshakes with friends. I love the summer."

The exuberant dialogue started with the dark-haired, scrawny youth with oceans in his eyes who accented his phrases with sweeping hand gestures. The lightly shaded circles around his eyes gave away his mild sleep deprivation, but the starry optimism of his eyes hid any latent discomfort.

"Dude, you're telling me. You realize how much down time I have to check out the ladies now? The next three months are gonna be kinda hot, ya know."

The conversation continued with the dark-skinned companion that hid his hair beneath a beret, his turquoise eyes behind glass, and his social awkwardness behind technology that he absently attended to while he absorbed himself in his friends.

"Ha! Yah right Tucker. I'll be shocked if you come out of your room once this week. You aren't going to catch any girls on Battle Duty 4."

The jest came from the final member of the fellowship, a dark-clothed girl with lavender eyes who rebelliously and proudly proclaimed her independence. Though she brandished a brash and loudmouthed identification with goth culture, her sincere happiness and thorough friendship betrayed her heart's true nature.

Together, the three teenagers formed a single entity that survived the turbulent social scene of adolescence in contemporary America. They bled, sweat, and cried as one.

"Summer movie season starts next week," declared the 'techno-geek.' "Whaddawe see first? 'Swim' with Zendel Jefferson, 'Fog Apollo' with Thomas Hankeren, or 'Adams' with Daniel Night-Lewis?

"I dunno, Tucker, maybe we should just take a week to do nothing. It's not like we _have_ to do anything, so why _actually_ do anything?" came the lazy boy's response.

"C'mon, man, just cuz we have a break doesn't mean we have to spend it sleeping!" The two entered the food court of a bustling commercial shopping mall, quickly taking seats around a table. "We should be livin' it up! We got lives to live!"

"So says the guy that stays up until 2:00 every night to ensure he has every possible material in DigCreate. Besides, Tucker, I plan on living a little while longer. I think I can afford to procrastinate on my entertainment."

The girl in black interrupted: "Hey, I'm grabbing myself a milkshake. You two want anything?"

The cinephile politely shook his head, but the other one replied "Make it two. Just get me whatever you're getting."

The two smiled. It didn't take long for awkwardness to set in from their lack of movement and their smiles dwindled.

"Ok, uh, yah, I'll just go get that. Be right back."

The girl rushed off to join the semi-organized masses while the two remaining then refocused themselves. The blue-eyed procrastinator opened his mouth to give his opinion of the new films when his friend caught him off guard.

"So have you two realized it yet?"

"Huh?"

"You and Sam."

"Realized what?"

"The fact that you two are seriously into each other."

"Tucker!"

The matter-of-factness of the technologically dependent youth suggested no attempt at humor.

"C'mon, dude. I see it. Your parents see it. Hell, you saw it in both your _and _her dream when you overshadowed her. You'd think you'd'a figured it out by now."

"Look, Tucker, Sam's my best friend. You're also my best friend. You don't see me wanting to date you, do you?"

He shrugged. "You tell me."

"Tucker…"

"Look, man, all I'm saying is you oughtta do something about it one of these days. We only got one more year of high school before we're headed to college. Frankly, man, I'm kinda scared we'll get split up between all the different colleges we could end up going to. I don't want us all to drift off, but I figure if we have to, we ought to make the most of the time we still got left."

This was met with a prolonged sigh. He let his eyes wander and his thoughts simmer before he replied.

"I know. It's just that, well, I'm a kid and she's a kid and I don't want to do anything stupid, ya know? I consider her my single closest friend, alongside you of course, and I don't really want that to change. Maybe she'd be happier with me as a friend than as a boyfriend."

The boy shook his head gently.

"Danny, I'm telling you-" he paused momentarily as his eyes darted over the other boy's shoulder. "This one even has Crimson Johansen in it! No way I'm waiting for the DVD release."

The dark-haired youth gave him a puzzled look and a tilt of the head before a cup of vaguely green liquid landed in front of him.

"Here's your shake!"

"Uh… What is it?" He asked.

"It looks kinda like watered down ectoplasmic residue from the ghost portal," the other boy jabbed.

"It's mint-splosion with whole-grown coffee from independent farmers in Nicaragua, duh." She said, annoyed.

"Okay…" was the unenthusiastic reply. The youth simply eyed it a moment before extracting some of the half-frozen liquid.

"Yah, uh, It's, well, it's ya know not that bad."

"You hate it."

"Yah."

At that moment, the triad's routine was broken by the arrival of a newcomer.

"Hey Danny," came the voice of a fair-voiced, green-eyed African American who stood over the table as the two boys briefly gawked.

"Oh, hey Valerie, what's up?" The blue-eyed youth was the first to respond, his voice slightly trembling from nerves.

"Just saying hi."

The goth girl tried to communicate her aggressive indifference, but was ignored by the others.

"Hey, you guys are going to see the mayor's speech tonight, right?" Valerie questioned. She seemed surprised when she received blank stares. "Mayor Masters announced he's addressing the city tonight at 7:30. He didn't say what for, though."

"It's probably the upcoming election," the other girl replied, "He's announcing his bid for reelection and gonna tell the city why he's exactly what we need and that he should be trusted and that he doesn't actually just want to ruin the lives of three poor kids who just want to do their jobs and go home."

"Yah, uh, probably." Valerie said.

"Not interested."

"I was just curious if y'all were going. Since it's the first day of summer and all, it's not like there's anything going on anywhere. Might as well, right?"

"Sure, why not?" Blurted the kid with the protruding hairstyle. His friends gave him a bewildered look. "I mean, c'mon, this is the future of our city, right?"

"Right. Oh damn, my dad's calling me. I gotta get going. I'll see ya at the speech event, Danny."

"Yah, see ya then."

Valerie Gray promptly exited the mall, but more than once made a glance over her shoulder.

"Danny, what do you think you're doing? I don't want to spend my first night of summer vacation listening to Vlad!"

"I know, Sam, but think about it. Vlad has been flying under the radar the past several months. If he's coming out to make a public statement after not showing his face, human or ghost, for so long, there's gotta be something to it. He's hiding some kind of plan, Sam. If we go to the speech, we can at least keep tabs on him."

"Alright, alright."

"Afterwards, feel free to crash at my place. I'll order us a pizza and we can spend our first summer night as we plea-argh." Danny's dialogue was stopped when he placed his hand to his temples.

"Hey, man, you feeling ok?"

"Yah, yah, just a bit of a headache."

"Maybe if you'd actually drink your mint-splosion milkshake you might be able to blame it on a brain freeze."

Danny just rolled his eyes. And smiled.

* * *

When the trio arrived at the square for Vlad's speech, a crowd had already formed. It was clear Vlad Masters's mayorship was controversial: Half of the crowd dressed in various shades of blue and campaigned for another term with Vlad the head of the city. They had picket signs, slogans, megaphones, the works. The opposite half of the crowd dressed in variations of red and armed themselves with political cartoons, more picket signs, angry chanting, and the occasional empty chair held aloft. The two factions ran almost cleanly down the middle, right to the speaking podium.

Danny scanned the mob. "I'm surprised at such a big turnout."

The goth girl, Sam Manson, answered "Politics in this town are kinda a big deal. You should hear the shit my parents say when they get worked up."

She promptly hid her face when she caught eye of her parents near the front of the crown, shamelessly crying out about Vlad's supposed injustices towards school children.

An awkward silence fell momentarily.

Tucker broke it first. "Does anyone else get a feeling something bad is gonna happen."

"What makes you say that?"

"I'unno. I just don't like the look of this. It's like kinda the same but kinda not. Something's up. It's like that chapter of Sci-Fi Wonders #79 where the universe gets a new God."

The geek's to friends didn't have time to demand an explanation. Vlad Masters punctually appeared at 7:30 and approached the podium. All the lights dimmed save for the ones trained on him.

The lights highlighted his pale complexion and grey, swept-back hair with prominent widow's peak and pony tail that accented the goatee he sported.

"Dear citizens of Amity Park," he began.

"Oh boy," rolled the eyes of the three in unison.

"As you know, about one month from now, the city will once again vote to determine who will lead it into the future."

He coughed quietly, then lightly pumped his chest to remove some errant mucus.

"For the last two years I have proudly served as your mayor, voicing what I think was the opinion of the people and always fighting for progress and development. While I consider my actions fully sincere and genuine, and though I have personally enjoyed representing the community of Amity Park," a silent gulp, "over these last two years, I do not believe I am still fit for this position."

An outburst of murmuring and anxious talk burst out among the crowd. Vlad bowed his head and sluggishly lifted it back several times.

"What the hell?" Danny asked, dumbstruck. He threw his hands up for emphasis. "What's he getting at?"

"Citizens. I know that this may come as a bit of a surprise to you all. Admittedly, it is one to me as well." He coughed again. "But I will not seek reelection in a month's time. I have also decided, somewhat regretfully, to officially resign from my position effective tomorrow."

Gasps, followed by silence. Beads of sweat began appearing on his face and he occasionally dabbled them away with a handkerchief.

"I thank you all for your support and of course your votes the past two years. I certainly wish Amity Park the best of luck in the future and… and I do hope… do…"

The mayor wobbled. And then he sank downward, grasping to the podium to keep himself upright. His left clutched the wood while his right seemed to wrap around his chest.

An aide quickly approached and grabbed Vlad by the arm, giving him a support and leading him to the doors of the mayor's mansion. Another aide rushed to the microphone as the two hobbled inside.

"Uh, uh, Mayor Master's has decided to resign due to personal health problems that he believes would be distracting and potentially detrimental to his, uh, uh, job as the mayor and that he will return home to Wisconsin. That, uh, that's everything he had to say." The aide pushed the microphone away to signal the finality of the statement.

For a few moments, a deathly silence oppressed any reaction. Then a gentle whisper became a loud argument became a confused panic became a small riot.

Calmly, Danny concluded "This is all bullshit."

Poor Vlad. Causing trouble the one time he wanted to avoid it.

* * *

**Being my first fic, it is both short and mediocre. Please, take some time and let me know where on the meter between "shit" and "shittier" it falls, so I can make some improvements somewhere.**

**If you want a reply to your review, please either log in or include another way of contact. I don't want my Author's Notes getting too large.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Look! More reviews! That means more chapters!**

**Thanks for sticking with the fic this far. After reading them for years, I've finally gotten around to writing a Fic of my own and it's encouraging to see the enthusiastic response.**

**Anyway, here comes chapter numero dos. Time to get things running.**

* * *

Surrounding the humble brick and mortar home, a blanket of darkness covered the streets and windows, kept at a distance from the building by the neon glow of a sign that boastfully read "Fenton Works," the image of the sign softened by a light fog. Inside, the only active sign of life came from the nigh claustrophobic steel laboratory immediately below the surface.

A booming voice bounced off the metal walls and down the lengthy stairwell to reach the slim figure in a blue jumpsuit that absorbed herself in unending pages of squiggles, numbers, and tables. She squinted at each, piecing together a puzzle and letting her thoughts drift to and from her work regularly.

"Maddie, are you coming up soon?"

The lady in the blue jumpsuit smiled.

"I will soon sweetheart, just need to finish running statistical variance tests on the data from the trials this morning."

"Do you want some fudge before bed?"

"No, Jack. Go to bed, I'll join you later."

The woman smiled. Thinking of her husband brought a lot of good memories to her mind. She let herself be distracted from her work long enough to remember the day they first moved to Amity Park, not long after the birth of her daughter Jazz. This house held a lot of good memories for her, and she recalled the time he saved her from an errant poltergeist at their last college reunion. She couldn't thank him enough for the family he's given her, one she had desperately wanted as a college student.

She didn't notice the conspicuous shadow in the corner that remained dark despite the bright lights above.

She returned her thoughts to her pages and pages of data. Each represented a different variable or entity that had to be tracked, controlled, manipulated, or removed whenever she needed to in order to assure their results remained unbiased. Every now and again she stopped and marveled at the fact that ghost hunting, once a fun topic to read about in books and movies and later a fun time-waster of a hobby, had become her main method of income. Who knew the government had such interest in ectoplasm-based oils and materials? They'd even approached the family about the possibility of making them full-time contractors and starting whole new departments based off their research. It was exciting seeing how others reacted so enthusiastically to their research.

The woman collected the papers into a single stack, and then signed her name at the top to signal they were finalized and they could continue with their research the next day. She beamed as the table was cleaned and she prepared to shut the lab down for the night. She reached for the light switch.

"Maddie…"

She froze instantly, her purple eyes wide with confusion and a hint of fear. She swiveled around, but found nothing but the ghost portal, open and the sickly green amorphous inside still swirling ominously on the far side of the room. Her right eyebrow peaked as she advanced toward the portal.

"Maddie."

It came from behind her. In an instant, her Fenton Lipstick was removed from her pocket and aimed as she swung to confront the intruder.

"…Vlad?"

From a darkened corner by the stairs emerged the fully suited Vlad Masters.

"Hello Maddie."

"But— But how did you get in? You didn't come in through the door or Jack and I would have heard you and there's no way you came through the por…"

"Maddie, relax. How I entered is unimportant. I need to speak with you. It's rather urgent."

Maddie narrowed her eyes at the man.

"What is it now, Vlad? Another attempt to convince me of Jack Fenton's incompetence?"

The now ex-mayor let the silence hang for a minute as his eyes locked into hers.

"Not quite, Maddie. It's not about Jack, actually."

Maddie show him a confused and disbelieving look before returning to her desk to finish cleaning some errant scratch paper.

"Well whatever it is Vlad, I don't know why you came to me in the dead of the night in my own basement. Go at least get Jack, then maybe we can talk about whatever crazy thoughts may be in your hea-"

"Maddie, did you happen to see the speech I gave earlier today?"

She stopped moving.

"I did. Why?"

He didn't answer immediately. Maddie noted how unlike Vlad it was to keep utterly quiet, not even so much as a jest or riddle.

"Maddie, I need you to do something for me." He sighed and averted his gaze.

"And what could I _possibly_ do for you, Vlad? You have everything, from the biggest house to the sleekest vehicles, and you even had a political position of power. I can't do anything for you."

"Maddie, there seems to be a subtle hostility to your voice tonight. Is everything alright?"

She brandished a fist in his direction. "Listen, Vlad. I've seen enough of you the past three years. You've been holding onto a childish grudge against my husband for over 20 years now and have only shown yourself a distant and selfish individual who cares nothing for my well-being or that of this city, and yet you have the audacity to announce to the town your resignation, throwing the square into enough chaos to warrant police intervention. You've been completely silent and retracted from the world for the past several months, Vlad, and my children speak of you like you're a monster. What's wrong with you?"

He stared. Stared into the depths of her lavender orbs, all the way down into her soul as he steeled himself for what he was about to tell her. He wasn't sure if it was the best course of action, but he felt obligated for a personal reason.

"I'm dying, Maddie."

Her head jolted upwards, completely taken aback by the revelation. She didn't answer. She just took in the sight of a green-eyed youth dressed in a white lab coat whose spiky crew cut swept back below his neck in a mullet typical of the decade. She rolled her head right, gazing into a mirror. She contemplated the girl that stared back at her. Hardly 21 with luscious and full orange hair that fell beyond her shoulder in bunches and curls and a certain naiveté to the large earrings and loose-fitting ankle warmers that contrasted the stark white lab coat identical to her visitor's.

She brought her eyes back to Vlad. She waited for him to say it, the same line he delivered to her 25 earlier as a starry-eyed college student pursuing all her innermost desires without a thought for the rest of the world, the same one that smashed her emotional stability and left her crying in a dorm room for weeks: "But I'll wait. I won't die without you."

The words were left unspoken. Total silence only raised the tension between them.

Neither of them said a word. Only stared, attention fluctuating between now and then.

An eternity passed.

"What's wrong with you, Vlad?"

He didn't move at first.

"Maddie. I need you to do something for me before I go. I'd like Daniel to spend some time with me over the summer. About a month, perhaps."

She wasn't sure how to react, so she didn't.

"I know this seems rather spontaneous and out of character for me, but… just trust me, Maddie."

"And why would I trust you, Vlad?" Maddie retorted, regaining her composure.

"Maddie." He approached her slowly, putting his face directly in front of hers. There's nose briefly collided before she pulled away.

"Do you remember the summer after our sophomore year?"

She started to lose it as a rush of memories resurfaced.

"Do you remember that first year of college? Or the holidays we spent together all through high school?"

She couldn't look him in the eye any longer. She turned her back to him and put distance between the two. Before she could croak out a response, Vlad continued.

"This may be the last time you see me, Maddie. I can't tell you why I'm doing what I'm doing, but please, do this for an old friend. For me."

Maddie held back water that wanted to stream from her eyes.

Ok.

* * *

"What the hell!"

"That what I said!"

A few passers-by shot the teenagers annoyed looks as their conversation jumped in volume.

"I don't want to spend a second of my summer anywhere near that fruit loop!"

Among the three, only the goth girl thought to address their lack of consideration to the public.

"Danny, calm down. I'm not happy about it either, but screaming about it to everyone around isn't going to help."

"I know, Sam" he lowered his voice, "this is just seriously pissing me off."

"What did you do when they told you?" Tucker interjected.

"I told 'em off. No way they're going to tell me what to do with my summer. I'm almost a senior for God's sake."

"A senior that can't drive," Sam teased.

"Well, yah, it's not much use when I can fly…"

"Your parents don't know that."

Danny sighed.

"The last thing I need is time with 'Uncle' Vlad," using air quotes to emphasize the sarcasm.

"I dunno, Danny. You said before we needed to keep an eye on 'em, and this way you can do that twenty-four-seven. The whole 'keep your friends close and enemies closer' thing, I guess."

This was met with an eye-roll.

"When are you leaving?"

"They're shipping me off tomorrow."

"That's… really sudden. I'm surprised your parents would allow it."

"My dad couldn't care less. He loves Vlad as a brother. I didn't expect my mom to go with it though. She knows what kind of a prick Vlad can be."

"What does Jazz think?"

"She's no happier than I am, but she's also upset with me for reacting so violently."

The two friends shrugged. There wasn't much either could do to prevent his departure.

Sam started off slowly, "We should set up a daily video chat or something to keep track of each other. I mean, if you're going to be staying with your mortal enemy for a month, it'd be a good idea to keep a log of what goes on."

Glances were exchanged around the table.

She continued "And, uh, it would be nice to make sure he hasn't killed you or anything."

Danny erupted in high-pitched laughter.

"I'm a ghost, Sam. Killing me would be kinda difficult." He punctuated the last word by flashing his eyes a glowing emerald green.

Before Danny could finish the conversation, an icy blue stream escaped his lips.

The uncharacteristically cold breath sent chills down the spines of each of them, but not because of the temperature. Without a word, each jumped from the parkside bench and landed in a fighting position. Tucker reached into his book bag to retrieve the Fenton Thermos while Sam grabbed two hand-sized ecto-blasters and Danny scanned the immediate vicinity for a spot away from the prying eyes.

Blood pulsed quickly as each investigated the surrounding streets, bushes, and skyline looking for anything glowing green or floating suspiciously. Danny was dismayed to find the busy park too crowded for him to rely on a tree or a bush as cover. He needed an enclosed space, one nearby, one quickly…

With a deep sigh of irritation, he bolted for the only personal space he could find― a porta-a-potty. He slammed the plastic door as best he could and politely turned the knob to read "occupied."

"Jesus Christ this stinks…"

Instantly, a ring of intense light circled the center of the porta potty. The one ring then separated into two, one floating upwards past the top while the other sank towards the ground. The porta potty rocked and swayed, threatening to tip, before a ghostly figure emerged through the roof, phasing straight through the plastic.

The unique-looking character, dressed in a black and white jumpsuit that glowed with energy, rose above the urban landscape and caught the eye of every surrounding bystander. His snow white hair contrasted with the darker environment below. Two glowing emerald eyes scoured the vicinity.

The hero was visible from almost every part of the city, a marker of the city's only memorable feature and the sense of security in a town infected with the incorporeal.

Danny Phantom.

Delayed hoots and hollers from supportive citizens below reached his ears. He briefly glanced at his friends below before continuing his search. He was caught off-guard when a glowing ectoplasmic entity shot past him, throwing him off balance and sending him into a spin.

He circled on his heels several times before regaining control and coming to face to face with his foe!

"Oh great… an ectopuss."

Danny eyed the ghost with aggravation. The vaguely octopus-like ghost hovered high above the ground, eyeing Danny with an idle anger. Its four rough appendages wiggled evenly and it's serrated, flat mouth hung open.

"I really don't want to deal with this right now…"

Danny straightened himself and his face reflected his unamused demeanor. He candidly balled a fist and extended the forefinger in the direction of his enemy, a bright, light-green beam then instantly shot from the tip. It hit the ectopuss squarely between the eyes, causing a visible lurch and brief wisps of smoke before the ectoplasmic entity succumbed to gravity and fell unceremoniously to the pavement below.

Tucker had been waiting for his chance and uncapped the Fenton thermos, aimed the open container in the direction of the ectopuss, and in seconds the ghost was enveloped in a blue-ish white cone that pulled on the ghost, sucking it into the small device. He smiled as he twirled it on his finger in triumph.

Above, Danny didn't let himself celebrate yet. "They always come in pairs…"

A shriek filled the air an identical ectopuss appeared from the canopy of a park tree, screaming towards Danny at breakneck speeds. Danny calmly sidestepped the creature, and as it passed, wrapped a hand around one of its tentacles. If the ghost could speak, it would have let out an audible "oh crap" as Danny spun the creature in circles, letting centrifugal force build up until he let it fly in the Tucker's direction, who caught it in the same manner as the last one before it even hit the ground.

As Danny descended, the cheers and boisterous applause put a smile on his face. A circle of citizens formed around him. Several heroic poses of the famous ghost boy would hit the press the next day.

One girl broke the bubble and advanced towards Danny from behind. She tapped the boy on the shoulder, and he spun around with enthusiasm. He couldn't get a word off as he let his eyes roll over the latina in a tight pink t-shirt that revealed her midriff and blue denim capris.

Hi there Ghost Boy!" She oodled sweetly.

Danny's nerves hit him hard. He tried to deepen his voice, both to sound more impressive and prevent anyone from connecting his two identities.

"Why, uh, Hello there! Paulina!"

"That was some impressive ghost hunting you just did!"

"Ha, ya, it was! Thank you." He chuckled tensely.

Her seductive voice failed to sooth him. "Maybe you and me could get together this weekend and you could teach me a little bit about this ghost fighting business of yours!"

Danny cursed his parents and vehemently damned Vlad to Hell.

The ground rumbled. The circle was approached and suddenly dwarfed by a large, tank-like vehicle that sported a white and ectoplasmic green paint job and a fancifully stylized 'F' on the side, marking it the property of Jack and Maddie Fenton.

"And… that's my cue."

The ghost boy instantly lifted into the air, not wishing to engage in any kind of dialogue with the middle-aged ghost hunters. He flew up and over the Fenton Assault Vehicle, gracefully avoiding flashes of ecto-blaster rays and ignoring the demands for surrender over the machine's speakers.

He loved fighting ghosts. Sometimes he considered his parent's incompetence a blessing in disguise, for making a big enough mistake to change their son into a half-ghost, half-human, all-awesome buttkicker. Danny Phantom was what Danny Fenton never could be: a Hero.

* * *

Danny sighed loudly as he set his duffle down and angled his head up to observe the numerous gold-peaked towers that capped a white-brick structure of asymmetrical towers adorned by dark green flags and tapestry. Clearly a Green Bay fan.

The chauffer noisily accelerated down the half-circular drive way, leaving the boy alone on the steps of a massive metallic doorway sporting a gothic lattice design. Danny dropped his head. He had expected Vlad to be waiting for him, and didn't desire to approach the castle-like entrance willingly.

Instead he took several minutes to stand underneath the archway and contemplate Vlad's motives. There's nothing Vlad could gain by bringing him here, unless he just wanted a shot at finally getting rid of Danny for good. How would he do that? Banishment to the ghost zone? Yay for irresponsible parents that leave one open every day of every week of every year.

He rolled his eyes at his own unspoken theories. Whatever ideas or goals Vlad had planned for him weren't going to happen. Period.

He contemplated knocking on the monstrous door when the left of it swung inwards. From the shadow of the inside advanced Vlad Masters.

"Welcome back, Danny."

* * *

**There's chapter two. So this fic is now long enough to fit my own 5,000 word minimum when I search for ones to read. I guess it's qualified for me to read. *shrugs***

**Again, any reviews would be majorly helpful. Try to be as specific as possible if you can, so I can focus on the little stuff.**

**I already have the overarching idea worked out, I think. The hard part is interspersing all the major events and twists with meaningful character development and entertaining subplots. That I'm not good at.**

**Thanks again! And remember: The "Review" button is your friend!**


	3. Chapter 3

"I thought I was 'Daniel' to you, Vlad."

The venomous words seemed to pass harmlessly through the older man's ears. The finely dressed gentleman's mouth curved upward in a smile underneath grand midnight blue circles that expressed his contentment.

Danny noted the wide eyes, the height of the eyebrows, raised corners, and relaxed muscles. All things considered, his smile looked genuine. Danny was taken aback a moment as he realized he'd never seen Vlad where a sincere grin before. It only made him that much more suspicious.

"Danny, I'm not your enemy here, you know that."

YES YOU ARE

But Danny held back. He merely squinted his eyes in irritated suspicion.

"Come on in, Danny. Here, let me grab one this bag of yours."

"I'm quite capable of carrying my own stuff, thank you."

"Oh, I insist, Danny. It's the least I can do."

Crazed-up fruit loop.

The clicks of their shoes were quickly muffled by the ornate royal yellow carpet that fit the excessively embellished green and yellow masonry fit for a king. Glass cases on the walls proudly displayed Vlad's collection of Green Bay Packers memorabilia, all of which fascinated Danny infinitely more than their owner did.

"Since you'll be staying here the full month, I decided I'd give you the afternoon to set yourself up in your room. Arrange your items, fill up the closet, get settled and all. I'll show you to your room upstairs."

Danny tried to ignore any words Vlad spoke. Maybe if he acted bored or uninterested Vlad would give up and send him home. The classic method of dealing with shoolyard bullies: Don't react to them.

Yet as the boy and the 'fruit loop' ascended the stairs, Vlad carrying Danny's duffle bag over his shoulder and a slight smile still hanging on his face, he couldn't help but feel irked by the deathly stillness of the place.

"Don't you, like, have a butler or anything? Seriously, there's like a whole castle here and no one in it."

Despite the teen's judgmental tone, the older man responded conversationally. "Oh, I don't have one. I'm just one person. I've never needed any services or assistance, so I never thought to hire one."

Danny just continued walking.

"I figured that, whenever I finally had a family, I might consider getting one."

The thought irked Danny. He knew any family Vlad had in mind would involve his mother. He wasn't willing to give up his mom to a creep with a dangerous obsession with ancient transgressions.

"Here we are," Vlad announced. He pushed open set of large would double doors at the end of the corridor, revealing a spacious and luxurious suite clearly influenced by a neo-gothic revival design. A large, single pane of glass stretched almost the full length of the far wall, overlooking the vast gardens behind the castle. An elegant queen-sized bed sat on a slightly raised platform on the left wall beside a sizable dark oaken student desk. Danny swung his head around as the large dimensions of the abode registered in his brain. Vlad gently placed the boy's luggage on the bed as he surveyed his accommodations.

"I hope you enjoy your stay here. This bedroom has everything you could possibly want to keep yourself comfortable, second only to my own."

The youth refused to voice any of his surprise.

"I'll let you get settled, then. I'll call when dinner is ready in a few hours. Until then, make yourself comfortable in your new home." Vlad's voice reflected his excitement. He couldn't help but spend a moment to stare at Danny as his slightly slack jaw and wide eyes gave away his positive impression. He bowed his head, turned himself around, and quietly saw himself out.

Danny found the loneliness Vlad left him somewhat unsettling, but he convinced himself it was an improvement over his presence. Lightly and gracefully he slipped over the student desk, removed his backpack and withdrew a scratched and worn laptop from inside. He set it on the desk with a soft thud before returning to the backpack to retrieve the rest of his equipment. After ensuring it was securely connected with the nearest electric socket, the boy lifted the lid and let the computer boot as he rifled through the drawers for any other materials or maybe a wifi password on a sticky note somewhere.

As his hand worked in and out of the desk's crevices and storage compartments, the furniture's age started to show in the amount of dust that was kicked into the air, a few bits worming their way into the kid's lungs and causing a short coughing fit. Giving up on the wifi, he reached for a 3G card to access local cell towers when his eye caught something. In the corner of the desk face, a small brass plaque had been engraved with the words: "To: Danny"

He just blinked a few seconds. Another mystery to add to the 'Vlad Case.' Diverting his gaze, he dug out the cell card and plugged into his laptops USB port. Almost instantly his desktop informed him he had new messages from "GothGirl96" and "TheGreatTuck." He quickly typed out a message informing his friends of his survival and set up a report time for later that night.

**GothGirl96:** We can do a video chat at 9:00pm  
**TheGreatTuck:** A chat room would be easier to log…  
**DanTehMan:** Video will do fine. You two should see the pad he set me up with.  
**GothGirl96:** Easily impressed, are we?  
**DanTehMan:** No, seriously, you'll see what I mean.

Danny gently tilted the lid toward him to signal the end of the conversation. He glanced again the the plaque with his name on it, but chose to ignore it this time. He lifted himself from the desk chair and walked to the wall-wide window. Once he'd stretched himself out on the windowsill, he let his mind wander from topic to topic, no real goal in mind or puzzle to solve. It was supposed to be his vacation, after all, and his mind had already lapsed out of full processing mode in the few days between the end of school and his arrival here.

The only subject he regularly came back to was Sam Manson. He wasn't even sure how she was her own subject just that she came up a lot. What exactly was his relationship to Sam? They were good friends, sure, but he had to admit he was in the middle of that awkward phase when ya dunno what to think about someone and ya dunno what they think about you. So you're stuck with your thoughts, feelings, and dreams without any real clear options. Every now and again he cursed himself for being a hormonally-imbalanced and confused teenage adolescent.

"Hello there, Danny, nice of you to join me. I'm just finishing

"I'm not very hungry, Vlad."

"Oh come now, Danny, even you have to eat."

The rebellious teen wouldn't answer. He marched past Vlad into the family dining room and forcefully sat himself down in an expensive wooden chair. This room was surprisingly modest compared to the rest of the massive mansion. The only furnishing that occupied it were the circular wooden table, the chairs and a fireplace on the far side. Danny already missed his old kitchen table.

Within a few minutes, the kitchen door swung open and entered Vlad with a tinfoil container balanced between is hands. Looking pleased as he placed it in the center of the dining table, he looked at Danny and enthusiastically commanded "Dig in!"

They ate lasagna. Or at least it tasted something like lasagna. It looked more like a bleeding brick of pasta.

"You're not eating much, Danny."

"Well sorry if I don't find the food appealing."

"Cooking isn't something I studied in college, you know."

"How do I know it's not poisoned?"

"What?"

"Don't think I'm not suspicious of whatever you have going on, Vlad."

A hearty laugh.

"My dear boy, what makes you think I have any ulterior motives?"

"Because you always do."

The gentleman let out a sigh, but it didn't feel dejected. Rather, it sounded as if a sigh had taken the place of more laughter.

"You, Danny, are eating out of the same pan I am. If I poisoned you, I made the mistake of poisoning myself as well."

Danny considered the argument, and then decided the fruit loop had a point for one. Scooping more of the saucy mess into his mouth, he gobbled down the rest of his meal.

"I figured that, now that you've unpacked and gotten your things settled, Danny, we could spend tonight doing something fun."

No. Let's not.

"I'm sure that anything that could possibly interest you is here, Danny, and for the next month is all available to you."

I hate your kind of fun.

"There's a heated Olympic-sized pool in the patio next to the gardens, or a fully stocked arcade on the first floor, a bowling alley next door, or the showing room and theater is playing the latest, greatest, and the yet-to-be released."

The teenager audibly yawned to hammer home his indifference. Even if it all did sound pretty cool.

"What do ya say, Danny? I do want this month to be enjoyable for you."

Danny stood. His power-grab fell short, however, when he realized that standing up his height only matched Vlad's as he sat down. Still:

"I'm done. Thanks a lot for the red hot mess of lasagna."

"Again, Danny, I do apologize for the mediocre meal. I'm not exactly known for my cooking bu— "

"No, Vlad, I know _EXACTLY _what you're known for!"

"NO you do NOT."

Green against blue in the face-off of the century.

Seconds felt like hours felt like days as the tension grew exponentially. Less than a day the ingrate adolescent had already tapped on Vlad's berserk button.

And then the man turned his back to Danny. By unspoken rule, that means Danny won the contest of dominance. But then why did it feel so anticlimactic?

"If you decide you'd like to do something, Danny, then I'll be in my study. I have some overdue business to take care of, but please don't be afraid to interrupt me." Despite the amicable invite, the disappointment in his voice colored the sentence all wrong. He promptly marched away, leaving a lonely and confused Danny in the family dining hall.

**DanTehMan: **Hey, guys, we need to move the chat back to 11:00.  
**TheGreatTuck: **Man, the SuperHero Movie Marathon starts at 10:30. You're seriously messing up my finely-tuned schedule.  
**GothGirl96:** Sure we can. What for?  
**DanTehMan:** I'm going to snoop around a bit after dark. He's hiding something and I think I might find it if I go looking.  
**GothGirl96:** Just be careful!  
**DanTehMan:** Relax, Sam. I got this covered.

It was a thick darkness. It breathed, sending a draft down the corridors and into the spine of one teenaged ghost. The icy air didn't phase the youthful phantom whose natural body temperature maintained a pleasantly frigid state. The meddlesome Danny Phantom floated just above the stone and carpet foors to avoid any possible noise

"Now if I were an old lonely fruit-loop, where would I put a diabolical lab with access to another reality?"

The stylistic torches were hardly enough to light up the passageway. Despite the spacious capacity of the hallways, they felt increasingly claustrophobic as he wandered down corridors, up sets of stairs, through walls and in and out of rooms, down sets of stairs, up corridors…

"Dammit, Vlad, you couldn't just build a mansion. You had to make it a maze, too."

Phasing through the floor, he let himself settle gently in the castle's main entrance.

A female voice called, "Hello, dear, are you looking for something?"

"GAH! Mom! What are you doing here?!"

She chuckled. "I am not your mother, dear. _I_ am a construct of the charming and wonderful Vlad Masters," The undeviating cheery tone placed the image further down in the Uncanny Valley. "He created me as a hologramic interface for his central computer and as a mathematically superior research assistant."

"That's… that's just weird..."

The hologram just stood there awkwardly, occasionally flickering, wearing a look of empty contentment. Danny tried to ignore it as he refocused on his search for the lab, but the hologram's artificial staring bothered him.

"Hey, wait. Mom… er, the Maddie hologram thing. If you're connected to his computer and research, then you must know where the lab is."

"That I do, dear."

"Can you take me there?"

"Hmm, it doesn't seem you have authorization, sweetie. I'm sorry, but I cannot lead you there myself unless I am provided with an override authorization code."

"Is it 'Maddie Masters'…" He asked annoyed.

"Override accepted. Right this way, dear."

"Wow, he's as bad as I am with passwords." He cringed lightly at the memory of how quickly his friends once successfully guessed 'Paulina Fenton' to gain access to his own equipment.

The hologram led him through an obscure narrow corridor. Danny felt a mild case of claustrophobia set on as the walls seemed to angle inward, finally halting at a discrete wooden door of about his height.

"Rather deceitful l…"

The hologram dissipated into nothingness, leaving the teenage ghost alone. He turned the brass knob, swung the door inwards to find… a sink and toilet.

"Real deceitful, Vlad…"

He slammed the door shut, only to feel gravity suddenly press down on him as the floor gave way. A short scream and a loud thud later and Danny stood at the base of a flight of metal stairs, looking up at the trap door above him.

The boy rubbed his throbbing head as he angrily mocked Vlad: "No, really, I want the entrance to break my neck on the way down. Put it there."

The maddie hologram rematerialized behind him. The lab is just through this impenetrable door of 9-inch thick steel. A 4-digit passcode is required via keypad in order to enter."

"So, then, what's the pass―"

"I'm afraid that, due to Vlad's programming, not even I am aware of the exact code needed to enter the laboratory."

"Fine then, I'll do this the hard way."

Calmly and easily, Danny turned his hand intangible, plunged it into the wall, then followed suit as his whole frame melted into the metal door. In less than a second, he reappeared and reshaped his figure on the other side of the steel vault entrance. Fully himself again, he reached out and flicked the switch, flooding the small laboratory with thick halogen-powered luminance.

Danny eyed a relatively humble research space, characterized by a purplish tint that shined on three tables arranged in a circle. Machines, pipes, tanks, and gauges lined the plated walls, promoting an industrial feel. On the far wall, a jutting triangular structure stood imposingly as two shades of green ectoplasm swirled infinitely.

Danny approached the closest desk. "Maybe he's hidden his plans in notes somewhere…"

Papers flew furiously as he scanned the messy worktable and the disorganized mess of documents that covered it.

'Ghosts and Spontaneous Power Fluctuations' No.

'Genetic Stability in Spliced Lab Rats' No.

'Detailed Ghost Anatomy' No, and gross.

'Ectoplasmic Structure of Ghostly Organisms' No!

"Geez, Vlad, you could have done a better job of organizing th―"

In an instant he felt the pain of his ribs bending as he was hoisted into the air. Cold metal surrounded his torso and the pressure prevented him from moving. Danny felt helpless as it dawned on him he had walked right into the perfect conditions for a trap.

"GHOST CHILD," called an all too familiar voice, "I had expected to find you in your usual residence."

The robotic apparition pulled the teenage Phantom closer to him, turned him around, and stared him down using his inhuman electric green eyes.

"No matter. I have you now. I will very much enjoy skinning you once we return to my island."

The ghost child's eyes flared.

"Not gonna happen, Skulker."

With a slight _twang_, a second, identical Danny Phantom popped into existence directly next to the original. Tension mounted in his muscles as he pulled back for a strike to Skulker's face when another steel fist wrapped itself firmly around him.

And the two echoed harmoniously, "Goddammit."

Vlad sighed as he lifted himself out of the office chair. Despite his usual focus-driven demeanor, he couldn't help but relive the dinner argument with Danny. It pained him to see the boy so staunchly against him, though he knew in the back of his mind that it was at least in part his own fault. The rolling hills outside his window held a tranquility about him he always loved, and while he found them soothing when drawing up plans to amass a fortune with ghost powers, conquer the ghost zone, or redistribute your assets and resources, they failed to aide him now.

It worried him that his first day with Danny had gone so negatively. It would be hard to get through to the boy without a proper start, but then he acted like he didn't want one. Vlad acknowledged what kind of difficulty he'd encounter going in. Unlike him, he had opted to go in without any kind of plan or observations to act on. Winging it. Just like the college days.

He sipped black coffee from dull mug and let the burning liquid scorch the inside of his mouth lightly. He hated knowing that Danny detested his very existence, but took solace in the fact that, as a fellow halfa, the boy had to see eye to eye on him in some things.

Without warning a book rocked the room, throwing Vlad momentarily off-balance and sending coffee in every direction.

"What in the hell!"

Another, forcing the mug out of his hands and into a thousand shards as it hit the ground. He could only growl angrily as he burst out the door and down the carpeted corridor. The best he figured was it was something underground or at least surface level, then it hit him… he had forgotten to close the Ghost Portal since Danny's arrival.

"Dammit, Vlad, pull yourself together. That's a Fenton-worthy mistake"

In a whirl, he had descended three flights of steps, dashed through five hallways, and reached the open floor entrance to his research lab, all the while . He bounded down the steps in what amounted to a controlled fall before he reached the keypad to the right of the entrance. As quickly as he could, he mumbled and entered the combination,  
"4-5-66"  
And waited impatiently for the insanely heavy door to unlock, then creak open.

"SKULKER! _WHAT_ in sam hell are you doing _**IN MY LAB!**_"

The combatants froze in alarm as he entered.

"Plasmius, what a surprise. And wha—"

"Oh, cut the chatter, Skulker, tell me why you two are smashing up my lab."

Skulker and Danny guilty glanced around at the innumerable broken beakers, dents in the steel walls, and broken equipment strewn about the room.

"Well, uh, I had tracked down the ghost boy here," he pointed accusingly, "to your mansion and I figured I'd fight him, since he's so unique and"

"I know why you're so interested in hunting Danny, but your own personal habits aside; I have uses for him here."

"But… I…"

"No, Skulker. Come talk to me about it later if you want. I have need of Danny here."

The bulky robo-wraith cursed before deploying his jetpack and swiftly rocketed himself back through the ghost portal.

"As for you, dear boy," he articulated in a raised voice, "what were you doing here to begin with?"

Danny did not relax from his combat pose. "I was trying to find whatever plan you have hidden, 'Plasmius.'"

The older man stomped over to the ghost portal and pressed the button on the side of the structure to close and lock the portal, preventing any further disturbances.

"Listen, Danny, I can understand you have some residual resentment towards me, but I do not understand why you're so convinced I'm actively trying to harm you. You're here with me for a month, and I plan on using that month to its fullest, and not just kill you like a lunatic with a penchant for senseless violence. If you didn't get it before, take the hint now: I DO NOT HAVE A PLAN."

Danny couldn't stop himself from taking a step back. There was anger in Vlad's voice, but he could see in his eyes a hint of hurt.

"Well… uh, uh" he fumbled for an excuse, "You… could have at least left me Skulker to beat up on. I had him on the run!" He smiled with false triumph, "I was enjoying kicking his butt."

"Really…" Vlad shot him his trademark evil smirk. He quickly returned to the Ghost Portal, turned to the ghost boy and challenged, "Then allow me to provide you with a little more entertainment."

With a click and a hiss, the Ghost Portal opened its doors to reveal the same ghastly gateway to the ghost zone, but the calming whirl of the ectoplasm was almost immediately broken by the arrival of a new enemy: A pale white young women with a firey blue ponytail who wielded purple and blue guitar like a weapon.

"Can't you two ever leave my boyfriend alone? I'm really getting tired of this shit."

Danny didn't bother with a comeback, just a quick punch to the face followed by a well-aimed ectoplasmic ray. Props to Ember for dodging the latter at least.

Vlad watched intently, not usually on the sidelines watching the boy fight. It actually felt good to sit back and spectate for once.

"Arch your back more, Danny."

He called out instructions and criticisms regularly, even as Danny focused on survival and success against an old foe.

"No, the aiming is all in the wrist, keep them pulled back!"

Danny tried to ignore his advice, and never acknowledged it, but he couldn't shake the curiosity of applying his critique every now and again and almost always found the results to his liking.

"Good, Good. She won't be getting up from that one."

Danny grabbed McLain by the hair and hauled her out of the small carter in the floor she lay in. He heaved around in one fluid motion and flung her back through the ghost portal just as Vlad gave it the command to close.

"Very good, Danny, I'm honestly impressed."

Danny didn't answer, but his heavy panting told him everything.

Vlad smiled. "Ready for another one?" he chided. The anxious face the teenager sported communicated his hesitance, but it was quickly replaced with his familiar heroic resolve.

"Now, this time Danny, keep your vision focused on you enemy." The ghost portal's doors parted. "You spent too much time the last round just trying to find your target. And don't be afraid to be quick and dirty if it means definite success. You toyed with Ember a bit too much."

A deathly wail filled the lab as out popped a new unremarkable ghost.

Danny smirked and promptly put an ectoplasmic ray between its eyes. It instantly flung itself back into the ghost zone.

Vlad clapped slowly, released the ghost portal, and out popped a new adversary.

Neither noticed the time as it flew by, hour by hour compressed into duels between the teenage Phantom and his randomly chosen enemy. But neither of them cared to, not until streams of sunlight from the new day's dawn finally reached Vlad's eyes.

He grinned. It was a start.

* * *

**Admittedly****, I'm not wholly satisfied with this chapter. I felt like it sagged in pacing and interest around the middle, though it picked back up somewhat by the end. Send me your own opinions using that nifty review box below.  
**

**This and the next few following chapters will I think be the most difficult to write, since I have to flesh out Danny and Vlad without making the whole exchange immensely boring. Any tips would be much appreciated.**

**Expect at least one more chapter before the end of Thanksgiving break. After that, it will likely slow down a bit, but I don't plan on abandoning this anytime soon. In the mean time, send me any comments or complaints you might have and I'll try to hammer it out in time for the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

******DanTehMan:** Sam, Tucker, you there?**  
GothGirl96:** Jesus Christ, Danny, its 6am!  
**GothGirl96: **Where were you last night?  
**DanTehMan: **I was, uh, kinda busy fighting ghosts…  
**GothGirl96: **A ghost attack? At Vlad's mansion?  
**DanTehMan:** Well, Skulker apparently tracked me here  
**GothGirl96: **And it took you all night to fight him?  
**DanTehMan:** I ended up beating up on some other ghosts, as well.  
**GothGirl96:** …  
**DanTehMan:** I didn't keep you up, did I?  
**GothGirl96:** I went through three pots of coffee to stay awake all night.  
**DanTehMan:** Uh ouch…what about Tucker.  
**GothGirl96:** He called it quits at about 1:30.  
**TheGreatTuck:** But I left the alerts on and the volume up  
**DanTehMan: **I'm sorry to worry you two so much, I lost track of time between the ghosts and Vlad.  
**TheGreatTuck: **Wait, you actually fought Vlad.  
**DanTehMan:** Not really.  
**GothGirl96:** So then what happened?  
**DanTehMan: **I was looking around his lab for a record of whatever new scheme he certainly has drawn up when Skulker arrived and started pummeling me. I held him off for several minutes, then Vlad showed up, convinced him to go back into the Ghost Zone (weird?) and blowing my attempt at stealth.  
**TheGreatTuck: **What kind of unendurable tortures did he inflict on you? Waterboarding? Branding? _Teen Titan FanFiction?!_  
**DanTehMan: **Actually, he just coached me as I fought ghosts the rest of the night…  
**GothGirl96:** Tucker, FanFiction ≠ Slash. There's plenty of good stuff out there  
**GothGirl96: **Danny, you sure you're feeling ok? I've never known you to be a very active or willing student, especially one of Vlad's.  
**DanTehMan:** I didn't have a whole lot of choice, he just kept throwing ghosts at me all night!  
**GothGirl96: **You need to be careful around him, Danny. He's dangerous.  
**DanTehMan:** Believe me, Sam, I know. Though I'm starting to think I may get more out of him if I played along… if he has a plan, he's done an excellent job of hiding it from me.  
**TheGreatTuck:** Sam, I have seen your Chrome bookmarks. Don't try to tell me you don't read that stuff.  
**GothGirl96: **I am strictly a RobStar fan, Tucker. With some occasional BBxRaven.  
**TheGreatTuck: **I seem to remember an entire section of archived RobinxSlade stories deep in your C drive.  
**DanTehMan:** I think I'm done here.  
***DanTehMan has left the chatroom***

* * *

_A/N in Italics since the story uses bold so much.  
_

_A quickie because i wanted to inject some humor and because I wanted to practice my dialogue. I feel like the Danny-Sam-Tucker dialogue kinda comes naturally to me, but I want y'alls' opinions on it as well._

_This does not count as that one more chapter y'all could expect. That one's up next._


	5. Chapter 5

**A quick thank you to everyone who has read my Fic so far! It makes me ecstatic to see my first work getting this kind of attention. Additional gratitude to everyone that's reviewed! It can get lonely as an author and your comments and criticisms make the difference in my attitude towards my writing.**

* * *

The boy hated it. He hated creeping in bushes, hiding in trees, and he hated the weight of the shotgun he had to carry. He had protested, bordered on violently, but considered that too ironic and hypocritical. And he knew that would just make Vlad laugh.

So he was dragged here with him, but he threw a scowl at hunter every chance he could. He always received a smile and some variation of "you'll like it, really" in return. He wondered just what Vlad expected him to hunt with a single-barrel shotgun while the older man retained a scoped rifle for himself.

"But Danny, I'm trusting you to watch my back."

His adolescent brain thought it humorous that his arch enemy would give him a weapon and a free chance to use it. Multiple chances, as it turned out. But Danny didn't consider himself a murderer, just someone who could appreciate dark comedy.

Another rapid _BANG_ followed by a felled coyote dropping in the distance. Danny distracted himself with a sudden interest in the legality of their activity. Didn't most animals have hunting seasons?

He let his mind drift away from Vlad's merciless hunting and instead roll over the memories of the previous week. He remembered with vivid detail the matches with random ghosts, quite a few of them familiar in fact, that he participated in each night, always with Vlad observing and criticizing from the sidelines. It irked him that Vlad didn't once lift a finger to help him, yet constantly judged him. His combat form, his choices of attacks, even how he took a punch, _nothing_ was glanced over. It was majorly frustrating.

A small epiphany struck him. He'd lived in Vlad's mansion a week now and not once had he seen Vlad's ghostly persona. He hadn't even seen him use any of his powers in his human form. He took it as another sign that he was up to something. Something big. He was just trying to make his incorpreal identity more impressive by saving it up for a big reveal or something. Vlad was like that: A classic dramatic Disney villain.

And that's why it was so shocking to hear him scream. He thought it was Vlad's? There wasn't anyone else around that could be screaming? He hadn't been screaming himself, he didn't think. But then why would Vlad be screaming? He's one of the most powerful ghosts in existence for Christ's sake, what in the world would—

A growl pieced the puzzle together for him as he snapped his head left to find a coyote eyeing the two of them aggressively. Clearly it wasn't as entertained as Vlad was to see his friend die from a sniper round to the neck. Vlad didn't move a muscle. What was he, playing dead? A second from now one of them might not be playing.

And then everything sped by so quickly. The bloodthirsty canine charged them, snarling loudly as its paws kicked up dirt and bits of grass. Before he could properly gauge his own actions, Danny was leaning over Vlad with the barrel aimed dead ahead. The trigger snapped back with a soft click.

The recoil felt like a hard punch the shoulder, knocking him backwards and sending the shotgun out of reach to the right. When he finally managed to blink away the mental fog, he hoisted himself upward and found the coyote sitting calmly over Vlad's body.

Vlad's tortured screams didn't sound so torturous, though. They actually sounded pleased. Like laughter. The man was laughing. And upon second glance he noticed the coyote that laid across his torso was simply a lifeless carcass, tongue hanging out slightly at an odd angle.

He looked at Vlad. He seemed fine. Captivated in the apparent humor of killing wildlife, it seemed. What sickened Danny was the firm grip the totally responsible adult had on his rifle, still pointed in the direction the Coyote had appeared in. He had had a chance to shoot it all along. Slimy bastard tricked him!

The older hunter clapped. "Mind helping me get this one off me, Danny?"

He didn't answer. He just threw him another scowl.

"Fine, fine, Danny, I can get it myself, then," he responded, no malice evident in his voice.

He placed his hands against the creature and Danny's mind wandered once again. He'd just killed something. Wasn't this supposed to be some majorly introspective moment in his life? When he realized the sanctity of life and how killing is wrong? And that he should detest hunting and hunters? He didn't really feel any of that. He didn't really feel anything. Except some further resentment for his host. Bastard.

* * *

"I rather enjoyed that, didn't you, Danny?"

No answer.

"You can even say you hunted one yourself. 'Danny Fenton, Coyote Killer'?"

He found Vlad's jests appalling. It was so unlike him to make such light-hearted jokes. He was used to stealthy insults toward is father and himself.

"Danny, will you slow down a bit? I'm having some trouble keeping up."

Ignore him. He's fine. He just wants to badger me more.

Couldn't Vlad ever just leave him alone? First he bothered his family, then he wouldn't leave him alone as Danny Phantom, and now he has successfully hijacked a whole month of his summer. This man was clearly a demon sent to torture him.

Danny found his new talkativeness irritating. As much as he hated Vlad before, at least he was consistent then. This new Vlad he'd already spent a week with was both familiar and altogether foreign.

And he constantly interrupted his thoughts. Danny considered himself a ponderer, someone who loved to think. Sometimes he liked to think more than he liked to pay attention in class. Most of the time he did. Of course during school a lot of his pondering boiled down to daydreams about Paulina. And every now and again he let himself spend a little too much time on Sam. But he couldn't think about her too much. She was his friend, after all, and thinking too much about her _that _way could be dangerous.

And yet while he could tune out his teachers just fine, Vlad was a lot harder for some reason. If Vlad said something, he instinctively listened. Couldn't help it really. It was so damn annoying, the way he could hardly get a thought off sometimes, let alone a full thought process.

Wait. Shouldn't Vlad have interrupted him by now?

Danny stopped walking. The crunching of grass ended and a deathly silence fell around him. He waited. His ears picked up something else. Like heavy breathing.

The adolescent whirled around to find Vlad, chin buried in his chest, leaning all his weight on a nearby tree. He was clutching his left hand all the way around his torso to his right side. And his audible panting indicated he wasn't ok.

"Vlad?"

No response from the hunter.

"Vlad, are you okay?"

Vlad fell to his knees, both his arms clasped tightly around him. He started screaming, this time in earnest.

Danny was confused and disturbed. The legitimate painful yells highlighted the artificiality of his earlier ones. He was at a loss. He couldn't tell what was wrong, but Vlad's earsplitting wails indicated he needed help.

The confused teen reached him as he fell on his side, still screaming, still clutching at himself. Should he call 911? In the middle of the woods like a half-mile from the highway?

Vlad answered for him. Two black rings materialized around his mid-section, then spread outward, one to the top of his head, the other to the end of his feet. The transformation completely converted his outward appearance from a camouflage and blaze-orange jacket and pants to a starch white suit and coat. His hair turned a solemn black and swooped upward in a bold "U" shape as his skin turned an icy pale blue.

He rose from the ground, still breathing hard. Two solid blood-red disks revealed themselves where his midnight blue eyes used to be.

For a moment he stood hunched over and unmoving. Then he examined his hands, as if to ensure he still had control of them. And then he turned to face Danny. It wasn't a pleased face. There was a dangerous amount of anger underneath that ghostly visage. It frightened him.

"V-V… Vlad?"

"Yes, Danny, I'm fine." It came out a little more forcefully than expected. "We need to go."

Vlad was already moving before Danny could utter a noise. He decided he didn't want to risk a response anyway and also to ignor the cold breath that streamed from his lips. The boy calmly picked up Vlad's rifle from where it had fallen in the grass, slung it over his shoulder, then hurried along behind the bitter specter.

It would be an awkward drive home.

* * *

**I understand that at 1500 this is kinda short, but I wanted to pump this one out as well.**

**I enjoyed writing this chapter. Hunting is just something I can see Vlad doing. It's such a Vladdy thing.**

**And for anyone that cares, I did do the damn research. Coyote hunting is totally a thing in Wisconsin and is open season year-round. Whether or not there would be any to hunt in the summer, well... MST3K: "_"It's just a [FanFic]; I should really just relax!"_**

**As always, I'd love to hear your feedback and you can expect more in the future. The review button is your friend!**


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